Former FBI director Comey urges votes for Democrats this fall

Former FBI Director James Comey talks backstage before a panel discussion about his book "A Higher Loyalty" on June 19, 2018, in Berlin, Germany. (Carsten Koall / Getty Images)

James Comey, the FBI director fired last year by President Donald Trump, is urging voters to support Democrats in this year's congressional elections.

Comey, until recently a Republican, argued on Twitter on Tuesday night that the GOP, which controls both chambers of Congress, has failed to provide an adequate check on Trump.

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"All who believe in this country's values must vote for Democrats this fall," he wrote. "Policy differences don't matter right now. History has its eyes on us."

Trump and Comey publicly sparred in recent months as Comey conducted a publicity tour for his book, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership," a 304-page tell-all that describes Trump's presidency as a "forest fire" and portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar.

Trump responded by calling Comey an "untruthful slime ball" and praising his decision to dismiss him in May 2017 in an act that has been under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Comey was highly critical of Trump's performance earlier this week during a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin at their summit in Helsinki.

At the news conference, Trump appeared to side with Putin over the U.S. intelligence community, which has concluded that Russia interfered the U.S. election in 2016.

"This was the day an American president stood on foreign soil next to a murderous lying thug and refused to back his own country," Comey wrote afterward. "Patriots need to stand up and reject the behavior of this president."

A Republican for most of his adult life, Comey recently said he now considers himself an independent.